One of the traits of an entrepreneur is tolerance to risk. Psychoanalyst Kerry Sulkowicz, MD, calls tolerance to risk “resilience”. And today we are seeing how resilient people are!

What about you? Are you stressing over the economy, or are you taking stock of what you have to offer and looking for new opportunities? If you are stressing out and closing down, you’ll likely end up like so many other businesses that won’t survive 2009. However, if you are a fighter, and a ‘typical’ entrepreneur, you are ready to do what is necessary to find those new opportunities!

The reason that starting a business during an economic downturn is a good idea is that most of these businesses will be starting up with existing, not borrowed, capital. Business that starts without debt has a better chance of survival if things don’t pick up right away.

So, take stock of your bottom line (cash on hand), understand what your ‘burn rate’ is, and exactly how long it will take to you to run out of cash (OOC), determine where you can cut down on costs, if necessary, widen your net for potential clients, ask yourself how best you can INCREASE value to your current, past and potential new clients, and rejoice in this time of the year and economy! This really is a great time to be in business! Don’t let tolerance to risk hold you back, but DO do your due diligence.

Margie